


Mute & Broken

by AloneShadow



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: Almost Human (TV)
Genre: Caring Dorian, Friendship, Gen, Hurt John Kennex, Hurt/Comfort, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 07:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26968018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: Dorian is always ready to help his partner, no matter what.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948396
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Mute & Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober prompts used: N 12, Broken Bones / N 24, Forced Mutism

Dorian turned back online three minutes after the explosion. Blinking, he waited for his system to reboot and show his body’s status: nothing too bad, all considered, and no parts missing. 

Sitting up, letting dust and debris fall down from his chest and hair, he scanned the area around: the club has been heavily damaged, but some of the neon lights were still working; the bar, where he threw the bomb before it could explode right in front of them, was completely destroyed, part of the ceiling still crumbling down on the counter.

Dorian stood up and his mouth moved to call John’s name, but no sound came out. Unsure, he tried again and then placed a hand over his neck. Doing another checkup, he saw the warning about his vocal system being damaged. He put that problem aside and kept scanning the large, dark room, looking for his partner. 

He wasn’t used to not being able to talk… And now that he needed it the most, he couldn’t call for John. 

Making his way to the hall, he pushed a destroyed door away, letting it fall loudly on the floor, he then did another scan. _John, where are you?_ he said, even if no sound came out. It was strange how natural it has become for him to talk, even knowing it was useless.

A part of the balcony above him cracked and started crumbling down, forcing him to move back- then he heard a pained scream. Instantly pinpointing the location, he ran on the left, finding more of the ceiling has fallen over the private area of the club. There, he finally found John Kennex, laying on his stomach on the floor, under the debris. _“John!”_ , Dorian’s muted scream did nothing while he reached his partner, kneeling next to him, holding the arm John was keeping over his head. 

John jumped and looked up. “H-hey …” 

_“You ok?”_

John frowned watching Dorian’s mouth move without making any sound. “Are you-?” he stopped and let out another pained cry, grasping Dorian’s arm as tightly as he could. 

_“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”_

“I think…” John panted, “I think I broke something.” 

Dorian instantly made a scan: John’s right arm was stuck under the debris, and the bone was indeed broken. _“I’ll get you out.”_ he said but, since John didn’t look up, he patted on his hand to get his attention and then grabbed the piece of ceiling, waiting for him to catch up. 

“Yeah… Yeah, ok…” John nodded, bracing himself. 

Dorian grabbed the remains with both hands and pushed up. John cried out again but didn’t ask him to stop, so the android lifted the concrete enough to grab John’s jacket and drag him out. Once he was safe, he let the debris down and moved to take care of his friend. 

John slowly turned around, laying on his back, keeping his right arm against the chest while groaning in pain. 

_“Try not to move it,”_ Dorian said, but, again, the human ignored him, so he gently grabbed his shoulders and he looked up at him. 

“Broken?” John asked, and the other nodded. “Great…” he sighed while the DRN helped him sitting up. “What about you? What’s wrong with your voice?” 

Dorian pointed at his neck. 

John frowned, looking at it. “I don’t see- ah, the- your vocal system fried?” 

Dorian patiently nodded again. 

“Alright... Can you-“ He cried again as he tried to stand. As Dorian placed a hand on his chest, he looked at him and saw him shaking his head in no. “I'm fine. We- we can't stay here…” John said, watching the android standing, collecting a few things, and then come back to him with a metal beam and few rags he got ripping one of the curtains. “What do you need that for?” 

Dorian sighed and pointed at his broken arm. 

“No, I can- I can deal with this. We just have to get out-“ John tried to stand again, but Dorian pushed him back down, gently, but firmly. 

_“It could get worse leaving it like that”_ , Dorian tried to say. 

John stared at him, then down at his own arm: a shade of deep red was starting to form where the bone broke- he knew he was lucky it didn’t break through the skin yet. “Ok… Ok, just- just do it.” 

Dorian moved closer and took his right arm as gently as possible, but that wasn’t enough to stop John from forcing down another groan. Dorian could hear him breathing fast, gasping here and there while he placed the arm above the little metal tube and then proceeded to use the rags to attach it to it, trying his best to keep it straight. As he finished, John gasped and jumped, and Dorian realized he was shaking- but then saw him laughing a bit. _"Why are you laughing?"_

John noticed him frowning and slowly shook his head, "I think... I think that's a piece of a lapdance pole you're using... To save my arm," he smiled, despite the pain.

Dorian shook his head again, but couldn't avoid smiling a bit as well.

“T-thanks, anyway,” John added, trying to take slower breaths, keeping his bandaged arm against his chest. 

_“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to protect you”_ , he said when the detective looked up at him. 

John frowned a bit, "Sorry, what?" 

Dorian wanted to repeat everything, but then just said, _"I'm sorry."_

“Ah, don't be... Who would have thought they'd left us a present in here?” John said. “Come on, help me stand up.” 

Dorian obeyed, scanning him one more time when he was on his feet. Busy as he was, he wasn’t expecting John to move his left arm over his shoulder to support himself. 

John breathed out and then noticed his surprised expression. “What? You want to see me fall and scream again? Not that you can complain or anything at the moment… Hey, this is the perfect time to tell you about that time when I was a kid...” 

Dorian smiled a bit and let him talk, holding tightly John's wrist as they started walking towards the exit.


End file.
